Heirloom Family Dishes from Big Ben

 

Big Ben Kitchen restaurant used to be a family ancestral house constructed in the mid-1960’s and was renovated in the early 1980’s to accommodate the growing family.

Cavite especially the town of Imus is rich in history and its culinary heritage is world re-known.

The specialty of Big Ben Kitchen is the home -made longganisa which favors are well balanced and not too heavy on the garlic.  The use of lean pork meat as the main ingredient. These tasty sausages are all-natural and contain no preservatives , nitrates or salitre.

The longgganisa recipe was made by the grandmother of Chef Gene way back in 1950 and had been a treasured family heirloom recipe. There were some minor improvements like more leaner meat, less preservatives and vacuum sealed packaging.

The restaurant had recently got accreditation from Department of Tourism, OTOP and is rated among the MUST visited restaurants in Imus, serving a good number of family and local heirloom dishes.

Big Ben famous longganisa is best paired with sukang sasa made from Nipa/ Nypa  fruticans and seasoned with mined garlic and chopped chilies.

Pancit Langlang – This was mentioned on chapter 25 of Dr. Jose Rizal’s novel El Filibusterismo, which mentioned students gathering in a famous panciteria in Binondo. This was also his favorite noodle dish whenever he would visit the town of Imus.

Although commonly served as regular dish and comfort food in the 19th and early 20th century around Manila and Tagalog areas. This dish is seldom serve in panciterias within Binondo and Chinatown area. Most of the accounts are from culinary historians or families which had kept this recipe for generations.

Based on how the group ate this noodle dish, We all agree that this is one of our favorite dishes. Chef Gene told us that it took hours to boil the soup base using bones from pork, chicken and beef. Topping the noodles with scrambled eggs. HIGHLY Recommended Dish. This dish can serve between 3 to 5 persons.

Sinampalukang Manok – Chef Gene family heirloom dish uses natural tamarind extract unlike the powdered mixture which is commonly used by carinderias . The slow cooking method allows the natural taste to permeate into the chicken and the soup is not too sour. There are also kangkong ( Ipomea aquatica), chopped eggplants and string beans.

They are all sourced locally and are a welcome treat to those familiar with other sinampalukang manok dishes cooked with different ingredients.

 

Halaan soup – Another highly recommended dish for those who wanted soup dish. The soup had malunggay leaves and young papaya fruit.

Chicken adobo – During the late 16th up to the early 20th century. Cocks which died during the cockfight were never thrown away. They were slowly cooked into other dishes like chicken adobo or pakam in Baliwag , Bulacan.

But unlike the old version, Chef Gene had improved this traditional dish into a more healthier alternative.  He sourced organically grown chicken from nearby poultry farms within Cavite. Thus all are free range and thus organic.

Pork Hamonado – This is another Highly Recommended dish, The pork is slowly cooked and bay leaves were added with pineapple which add a little sweetness.

Pineapple acts as natural tenderizer to the dish because of bromelain which is an enzyme extract . As a culinary ingredient, it may be used as a meat tenderizer.

The meat is tender and Is usually served on special occasions like Christmas, Baptism or special visitors.

Pancit Macao – This is Chinese ( Macao/ Cantonese) influenced dish which is not commonly served even in Metro Manila panciterias. This is combination of local vermicelli noodles and thin wanton noodles with shrimps, chopped carrots, patola (  Luffa acutangula ) topped with fried minced garlic and spring onions. This is again one of my favorite dish.

Menudo – This is not the Mexican or South American version of menudo. The main ingredients are pork meat, pork liver, chopped potatoes, chopped carrots and slowly cooked with spices like black pepper.

Some pork menudo recipes include slices of hot dogs ( red hotdogs), green peas, chopped black olives, garbanzos , red and green bell pepper, liver spread and others would add sun dried raisins too.

Silvana ala Chef Gene with local chocolate bits ( sourced locally )  made from a layer of buttercream sandwiched between meringue wafers coated with cookie crumbs.

I must recommend this hearty dessert. Not overly sweet and ideal for pairing with hot chocolate or locally brewed coffee at Big Ben’s kitchen.

Leche Flan ala Chef Gene – This leche flan is another wonderful treat. This is thick and Chef Gene uses organically grown chicken egg yolks with macapuno and cream toppings

There is also a wall where one can write a message or greeting . Just bring a ball pen.

Chef Gene Gutierrez will be participating at the WOFEX Food Expo from December 20 to 23 , 2017 from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay and Mr. Ige Ramos ( Culinary Historian and Chef ) together with Chef Gene will be having a cooking demonstration on December 23 saturday . They will be using Imus longganisa as main ingredient.

 

BIG BEN’S KITCHEN (Chef Gene Gutierrez)
385 Medicion 1^st-D Imus, Cavite, Philippines
Email: gene.gutierrez888@yahoo.com / imus.longganisa@yahoo.com.ph
Telephone: +63 46 435 1967
Mobile: +63 915 137 1888 / +63 918 505 5886
Facebook: D’Famous Imus Longganisa

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/bigbenkitchen/